| US PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
The
Legend
Continues
Rory McIlroy ended the summer in style by capturing his fourth major championship with a gutsy come-from-behind performance at Valhalla.
Rory McIlroy celebrates holing the winning putt to claim his second US PGA Championship title in three years
Photography by Charles McLaughlin and AFP 42
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The scary thing for McIlroy’s peers is that the drama-charged final day at Valhalla forged a new weapon to add to his already considerable arsenal of talents: how to win without you’re ‘A’ game.
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Rory McIlroy’s US PGA Championship victory at soggy Valhalla Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky extended his major championship total to four and his stunning summer winning streak from as many huge events – The Open Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Championship and the US PGA – to three. Along with it, he’s had us reaching for the superlatives yet again and re-inked the history books that aren’t yet dry from the previous major instalment at Hoylake. The Northern Irishman’s dominance over the summer months has put golf, and McIlroy himself, back on the front pages for all the right reasons. In the blink of an eye, issues with equipment, management, court cases and relationships have been consigned to fish and chip wrapping, yesterday’s news. Let’s tick off some of the records set, starting with the most historic. McIlroy joins Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the
AFP
Phil Mickelson now has nine secondplaced finishes in major championships after his runner-up placing behind McIlroy at Valhalla
e’ve seen this before, but from only a precious few.
only players in the last century to hold four major championships by the age 25 or less. He became the second youngest to win two US PGA Championships, behind Tiger Woods, and the 18th player to win two majors in the one season. “I thought winning The Open championship a few weeks ago had sort of put me on a higher level in this game,” McIlroy said. “I never thought I’d get this far at 25 years of age. “I was happy being a two-time major champion coming into the year; all of a sudden I’m a four-time major champion.” The scary thing for McIlroy’s peers is that the drama-charged final day at Valhalla forged a new weapon to add to his already considerable arsenal of talents: how to win without you’re ‘A’ game. It’s a trait that very few in the history of the sport have been able to boast but it is another attribute he now shares with Nicklaus and Woods, who could both find a way to win in the most trying of circumstances. It’s arguable McIlroy even had his ‘B’ game firing after starting the final round with a onestroke lead but slipping early to fall behind a hungry pack that included perennial crowd favourite Phil Mickelson, the season’s perennial major contender Rickie Fowler and the perennially overdue Henrik Stenson. The world’s best front runner suddenly looked vulnerable on a sodden golf course that was haemorrhaging birdies to all and sundr,y including McIlroy’s playing partner, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, who had made the cut in just one of five major starts prior to this week.
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With twilight falling rapidly into darkness, McIlroy and Wiesberger in the final group were sportingly permitted to hit off the 18th tee by Mickelson and Fowler (with some help by PGA officials) while they waited in the fairway to make their final bids for victory.
AFP / Courtesy of Omega
Clockwise from above: Rickie Fowler has come of age in the major championships this year; Henrik Stenson again came close to claiming his maiden major title; McIlroy with the enormous Wanamaker Trophy; the Northern Irishman in full flow 46
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At Hoylake a month earlier, McIlroy grabbed the championship by the scruff of the neck with late eagles over the final holes to distance himself from the field at the completion of the third round. Three strokes adrift at the turn at Valhalla, McIlroy seized the moment again with a single, majestic ‘result’ on the par-5 10th that also turned this championship on its head. A 3-wood from over 280 yards came out of the neck of the club, the ball bouncing along the left fringe of the fairway before feeding onto the green and to within eight-feet of the hole for eagle. “That was the turning point for the day,” he said. “You need a little bit of luck in major championships to win and that was my lucky break.” After that, you knew the putt was destined to
be a mere formality, and so it was. Unlike Hoylake however, McIlroy’s challengers looked to not only absorb but be inspired by the world number one’s surge back into contention. Ahead, Fowler, Mickelson and Stenson continued the surge of their own to tie for the lead at 15-under before McIlroy birdied the 13th to draw level. As the finishing line loomed fast, although ‘gloomed’ fast might be more appropriate in the rapidly fading light following a two-hour rain delay earlier in the day, all of a sudden McIlroy’s contenders faltered with bogeys to drop back to 14-under, restoring McIlroy’s slim overnight lead once again. A birdie following a peerless approach from a fairway bunker on 17 stretched the advantage to two with a hole to play but the back nine histrionics of the year’s final and most exciting major were not over yet. With twilight falling rapidly into darkness, McIlroy and Wiesberger in the final group were sportingly permitted to hit off the 18th tee by Mickelson and Fowler (with some help by PGA officials) while they waited in the fairway to make their final bids for victory. “It was a classy move for those guys to do that,” McIlroy said. “They could have had us standing and wait on the 18th tee while it was getting dark. It was great sportsmanship and shows the great character of those two guys, and I’m glad they did it.” McIlroy’s tee shot sailed dangerously close to the hazard on the right and may have found the water but for the soft conditions. But the drama didn’t stop there as Mickelson and Fowler were asked by official to wait again to allow the final group to play up to the green. This later concession seemed at best to bemuse Mickelson and Fowler who in ideal circumstances could have forced McIlroy’s hand to play more aggressively had they managed to eagle the last to force a tie. As it was, both players made gallant but unsuccessful bids for the tie and McIlroy was able to play safely with a greenside explosion and a carefully two-putt for a 16-under total, one ahead of Mickelson, with Fowler and Stenson two shots back. “I’d never dreamed I’d have a summer like this,” McIlroy said after hoisting his second Wanamaker Trophy. “This was different than my previous major wins, I showed a lot of guts to get this one done.” Fowler’s magnificent season in the majors continued without being able to actually break through. He became the first player in a year to finish in the top-five of every major without lifting a trophy, and his disappointment at the result is further testament to his growing stature HKGOLFER.COM
in the game. “This is the first one that hurts,” Fowler said. “Obviously, I did some great playing this year. My performance in the majors is something I can look back on and be proud of.” Mickelson’s wretched 2014 almost turned around in one fell swoop but there was a silver lining in running so close to McIlroy via automatically qualifying for his 10th Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in September. “It was a hard fought day.” Mickelson said, “I’m disappointed in the outcome. I thought that had I been able to finish those last five or six holes strong, it could have totally flipped the way I look at this year.” There’s so much in McIlroy’s immediate future, with the FedEx Cup before heading up Europe’s defence of the Ryder Cup in Scotland, but the eight months he will need to wait till Augusta will now be an even more agonising wait. Winning the Claret Jug at Hoylake gave him the third leg of the career Grand Slam with only the Masters Tournament left to conquer. Following the US PGA, Augusta now represents not only a career slam opportunity for McIlroy but a tilt at a third successive major. A win at Augusta would be an outrageous achievement, but dare we dream of him going on to win four majors straight, with a win at the US Open at Chambers Bay? Only Tiger Woods has been in this rarefied air in the modern era but McIlroy is fast proving he’s cut from the same cloth, one of the precious few. As Mickelson summed up: “He’s better than everyone else right now.” HKGOLFER.COM
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RORY’S WIN A WIN FOR OMEGA Rory McIlroy’s win was also a victory for his OMEGA, for whom the Northern Irishman is a brand ambassador. The luxury Swiss watchmaker, which is the Official Timekeeper for the PGA of America and the US PGA Championship – a deal that was recently extended through to 2022 – was clearly delighted with McIlroy’s performance, with President Stephen Urqhuart declaring: “We congratulate Rory on his outstanding play at Valhalla and all that he has accomplished this year. In our fourth year as a partner and Official Timekeeper of the PGA of America, it is thrilling to see our own OMEGA Ambassador win at the 2014 PGA Championship.” Following the Wanamaker Trophy presentation, President of The PGA of America Ted Bishop presented McIlroy with the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m timepiece to commemorate his victory at Valhalla. “I’m not sure if I’ll wear it or not,” said McIlroy of his new commemorative OMEGA timepiece. “I might just put it in a trophy case so that every time I look at it, it will remind me of my win here at Valhalla.” The Biel-based brand, which was founded in 1848, has long supported the sport of golf internationally, serving as the sponsor of the European Masters, the Dubai Desert Classic and the Dubai Ladies Masters. In 2013, OMEGA took its association with golf to an even greater level by signing three of golf’s professional elite – McIlroy, Stacy Lewis and China’s Shanshan Feng. Its roster of brand ambassadors also include a number of other stars such as Sergio Garcia, Davis Love III, Michelle Wie and Noh Seung-yul, and one of the game’s all-time legends – Greg Norman, the “Great White Shark”.
2014 US PGA CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
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1
Rory McIlroy
NIR
66 66 67 68
268
US$1,800,000
2
Phil Mickelson
USA
69 67 67 66
269
US$1,080,000
3=
Henrik Stenson
SWE
66 71 67 66
270
US$580,000
Rickie Fowler
USA
69 66 67 68
270
US$580,000
5=
Jim Furyk
USA
66 68 72 66
272
US$367,500
Ryan Palmer
USA
65 70 69 68
272
US$367,500
7=
Jimmy Walker
USA
69 71 68 65
273
US$263,000
Ernie Els
RSA
70 70 68 65
273
US$263,000
Victor Dubuisson
FRA
69 68 70 66
273
US$263,000
Hunter Mahan
USA
70 71 65 67
273
US$263,000
Mikko Ilonen
FIN
67 68 69 69
273
US$263,000
Steve Stricker
USA
69 68 68 68
273
US$263,000
13= Brandt Snedeker
USA
73 68 66 67
274
US$191,000
USA
65 74 67 68
274
US$191,000
15= Charl Schwartzel
RSA
72 68 69 66
275
US$127,888
Marc Warren
SCO
71 71 66 67
275
US$127,888
Brooks Koepka
USA
71 71 66 67
275
US$127,888
Lee Westwood
ENG
65 72 69 69
275
US$127,888
Adam Scott
AUS
71 69 66 69
275
US$127,888
Graham DeLaet
CAN
69 68 68 70
275
US$127,888
Kevin Chappell
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OMEGA will be on hand as Official Timekeeper when golf returns to the Olympics Games for the first time in more than a century. In its long-standing role as Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games (this year’s Olympic Winter Games in Sochi was the 26th time the brand has fulfilled the role), OMEGA says it is looking forward to golf’s return as an Olympic sport when Rio de Janeiro host the Summer Games in 2016.
NUMBERS GAME
4
The number of top-5 finishes that R ick ie Fowler has had in major c h a mpi o n s h ip s t h i s y e a r. T h e American, who only has one PGA Tour win to his credit, finished T5 at the Masters Tournament, T2 at the US Open and T2 at the Open Championship before his T3 at Valhalla.
62.5
T he percentage of fa ir ways t hat Ph i l Mickelson hit, which was a shade below the average of the field at the US PGA. The left-hander, who nearly holed his eagle chip at the last, has now had an incredible nine second-placed finishes in major championships.
315.6
R or y Mc I l roy ’s average d r ive at Valhalla during the week, which was 28.2 yards further than the average. McIlroy’s big hitting helped him to make two eagles during the week, the most of any player. HKGOLFER.COM